Latest News | Drapers Mills Primary Academy

ST GEORGES SCHOOL: A message for year 6 parents

Tue 29 Sep 2020

Dear Parents

You will have received an admissions application pack from us via your Primary School. If you wish to apply for a place at St George’s School it is imperative that you complete our school supplementary form. In these unprecedented times please can we ask that you return your completed supplementary form via Royal Mail post, as our school site is currently not open for visitors. We appreciate your co-operation in this matter.

Kind Regards

St George’s School

URSULINE COLLEGE: Admissions and Open Day information

Fri 25 Sep 2020

Open events for Year 6 pupils and their families at Ursuline College

September 2020

Ordinarily we would be offering an open evening and a series of open mornings for prospective pupils and their families during September and October. As a result of the restrictions placed on us by managing the risk of Covid-19, this will not be possible this year. We cannot have large numbers of people on the site simultaneously for an open morning. Equally, in order to preserve the integrity of our year-group ‘bubbles’, it is not possible for us to have visitors moving around the site while lessons are being delivered.

We have provided a ‘virtual’ open day for prospective pupils and their parents/carers. These resources can be found here: https://youtu.be/OfZRkF9YZvs. We hope that this will be sufficient for the majority of families to get a sense of what our school can offer and of our vision and ambition for our pupils. Supplementary Forms are available on our website, from reception and a number have been delivered and emailed to local schools. If you wish a copy to be sent to you either via email or in the post please email info@ursuline.kent.sch.uk.

We recognise though that choosing a secondary school is a big decision for children and that some of you may benefit from being able to see the school. Therefore, we intend to offer a series of ‘open afternoons’ at the end of September and through October. Capacity will be limited and will be offered on a first-come first-served basis. These will be available on the following dates at 4.00pm and 4.45pm:

Monday 28th September

Tuesday 29th September

Thursday 1st October

Tuesday 6th October

Wednesday 7th October

Monday 12th October

Tuesday 13th October

A member of staff will be available to take a small group of parents/carers and their child around the site for a 45-minute tour. Only one adult and one child can book a place per family unless you have more than one child due to start in Y7 2021. For the reasons outlined above, these tours will take place after our pupils have gone home. All visitors will be required to wear masks and to follow our social distancing and hand-sanitising protocols.

All staff operating these tours will have volunteered to do so. Our preferred position remains that we minimise the number of visitors to the school at this time so we would ask you to only book a tour if you really feel that Ursuline College is likely to be one of your preferences and that you need to see the school before you decide.

If you wish to book at tour, please telephone 01843 834431 with at least three dates/times that you would be able to visit or if you are unable to call please email info@ursuline.kent.sch.uk. This will allow us to meet all requests and to keep numbers in groups small.

We wish you well with what is bound to be a difficult process this year. If we can provide you with any further advice or guidance, we will be happy to do so; simply contact the school office with your query and someone will get in touch with you.

With all best wishes,

Mr M Walters Mrs E Englefield

Executive Principal Academy Principal

Starting School in September 2021?

Thu 24 Sep 2020

Today's adverse weather

Thu 24 Sep 2020

Good morning to you all.

If you were unfortunate to be caught in the torrential downpour this morning then my sincerest thoughts are with you. I truly hope that your day gets better!

Some parents were asking why we did not open the gates sooner, to enable them to take shelter within the school. As you know, there are limited areas where you can take shelter from the rain on the school playgrounds and this would not have allowed for effective social distancing – something that many of you have raised concerns about over the last few weeks. In addition, the majority of my staff do not start their working day until 8.30am. This would have meant that the playground would not have been supervised effectively which may have created some safeguarding issues.

Many children got wet this morning, whilst waiting to come into school. Because of our instructions that PE kits are not to be left in school but are to be worn into school instead on the days the children have PE, I am very aware that children now do not have a change of clothing available to them in school. This is an unfortunate consequence of the decisions that we have had to make to ensure that effective social distancing can take place in our classroom settings.

I have already sent a communication to parents to say that if they are able to do so I would be happy for then to bring a change of clothing up to the office this morning for their child to change into.

In future, if the weather is bad it may be worth considering sending your child in with a spare set of clothes/shoes for them to change into if they get wet on the journey to school. These can be kept in their bags and returned at the end of the day if not used.

Again, I am sorry that you may have been inconvenienced by the adverse weather from this morning but hope that you appreciate that the school are doing everything we can in line with current Government guidance to keep all members of our school community safe.

Yours sincerely,

Mr J Manclark

Headteacher

UPDATE: What to do if my child is showing symptoms.

Mon 14 Sep 2020

Dear Parents and Carers

It has been an absolute joy to be able to have our pupils back in school. We continue to be vigilant and rigorously apply measures to ensure your child is as safe as they possibly can be in school. An essential part of our and all schools approach is the action that needs to be taken if a pupil displays symptoms. The instructions set out below are based on the government's guidance and public health legislation.

If your child displays any of the three main symptoms set out below they and any siblings must be isolated either until they have a test result or for 14 days.

The most important symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are the recent onset of any of the following:

a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you've noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal.

There is also a wider set of symptoms that may be related to COVID 19, which are set out below. If your child displays any of these symptoms please contact NHS 111 for advice before sending them to school.

Signs or symptoms of COVID-19 in children can include:

Fatigue
Headache
Myalgia (muscle pain)
Nasal congestion or rhinorrhea
Sore throat
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
Abdominal pain
Diarrhoea
Nausea or vomiting
Poor appetite or poor feeding

I appreciate how disruptive this can be for families and work. However, I am sure you will agree, we all have a duty to combat COVID 19 and keep our schools as safe as possible.

For further information you may wish to read the Government guidance COVID-19: guidance for households with possible coronavirus infection https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance

If your child has to self-isolate the school will provide remote learning and regular contact.

Mr J Manclark

Headteacher

KCC 'School Street' - extension to pilot

Fri 04 Sep 2020

We have been informed by KCC that their 'School Street' pilot will be extended until Friday 23rd October. This means that St Peters Footpath - the small road directly outside the main school entrance - will be closed between 8.00 - 9.30 and 2.00 - 3.30. This is to create a safer, healthier and more pleasant environment for children and their families when they come to school.

Full details can be found HERE.

Parents are encouraged to walk or cycle to school as an alternative.

Because the road is closed to traffic, it means that the school can safely open the two gates on St Peters Footpath to reduce congestion, in line with its 'Covid-19' Back to School Risk Assessments.

For those families who need to use a car for the school run, we are encouraging them to use our Park and Stroll option, parking in Dane Valley Road and walking the remaining distance to school. Full details can be found HERE. Photos of the newly surfaced track from Dane Valley Road towards the school can be seen below.

As a school, we appreciate the initial inconvenience that this may cause to parents and members of the local community but we are hopeful that the initiative creates a safe, healthy and positive environment for all to benefit from.

KCC would welcome your initial thoughts about the School Street initiative by completing a quick survey HERE.

J Manclark

Headteacher